Dieselpunk Disquiet: Insomnia Kickstarts

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I briefly mentioned online RPG Insomnia when it first came to my attention a couple of weeks ago but now that the project’s Kickstarter campaign has started, it’s worth revisiting. Studio MONO are eager to point out the differences between a massively multiplayer roleplaying game and their game, which is online but not from the same mould as WOW and its ilk. If it all comes together as planned, it seems like it’ll have the strengths of a single player game, including scripted and procedural quests, alongside larger events involving more than sixty players. The art design, described as ‘dieselpunk’, is lovely, in a rusted and charred sort of way. Do make sure to look at the team photos. Lead developer Anatoliy Guyduk is terrifying.

It’s the setting that keeps me interested, even as doubts about the online gubbins bubble up in the back of my mind. It’s the sort of grimy industrial sci-fi that tickles my fancy.

With a great deal of work already completed, MONO are hoping to fund the final push (although they still have a May 2014 release window) and need $70,000.

yeah, well, i’m not too bothered about the face noir or insomnia logos in themselves, it’s just that i’d expect a bit more originality out of an indie studio and this sort of thing kinda lowers my interest not just below the pledge-level, but also below the play-video-level.

I don’t know why, but for some reason it reminds me of that awesome looking post-apocalyptic RPG Troika Games wanted to make before they unfortunately were forced to close… There’s a video of it on youtube.

Anyway, I have only one word to say: WHY?! WHY an online game? Talk about a wasted potential, sigh.

It’s fairly hard to get MMOs funded, but their incredibly low goal might help them. I haven’t seen any research, but I would guess that the problem is that people have a harder time feeling ownership over an MMO, and feelings of ownership and participation drive a lot of kickstarter.

Yup. It’s to 1920’s-50’s Americana (think big muscle cars) as Steampunk is to Victorian Britain. The pulp genre it uses as its base is similarly inspired by the times it pulls from, all film noir and dime store detective stories rather than Jules Verneish adventure yarns.